At Flower Jumbo's
by Kounellii
Summary: Takes place a few years before Koiwai adopted Yotsuba. Jumbo helps his father run a flower shop. Yanda is his kohai at the translator agency he works for. They found out they annoy each other. The story of the start of their friendship!
1. Hold the flowers, please

**At Flower Jumbo **by: Kounellii**  
**

_Kou's comments_: Not sure if and when Azuma-sensei will release the story of how Koiwai, Jumbo, and Yanda met each other. But here's mineXD This chapter's title is "hold the flowers, please" as in when you order your food and tell them NOT to put in a certain ingredient. Like pickles.

_Disclaimer_: I created this story, but Koiwai, Yanda, and Jumbo belong to Azuma Kiyohiko.

-Hold the Flowers, Please-

In a flat house located in a residential area of Tokyo, Koiwai hurriedly shoveled last night's leftover croquettes into his mouth. He stacked up the plates and chopsticks and placed them into the sink. His eyes quickly checked the digital clock by the front door.

"Aw crap. Jumbo better be here soon," he muttered, sighing heavily.

Koiwai walked briskly into the narrow bathroom. He looked down at the toothbrush holder.

_Now which one was mine's again?_ Koiwai thought for a second. Then he grabbed the green toothbrush, remembering Jumbo's ridiculous introduction of his brand new red toothbrush last night.

He reached for his clothes hung on the towel rack. He headed off his morning grogginess by preparing clean clothes the night before. For the past year, Koiwai would accidentally wear yesterday's clothes to work.

Not that it was much of a big deal at work. After college, he landed a translating job. Translators at the agency he worked for weren't required to wear a suit since it was a desk job. Occasionally Koiwai would accompany his sempai (older or more experienced colleagues) to do media subtitling for foreign films.

But he didn't agree to go on them very often since his supervisor told him he'd have to wear a suit. Koiwai, like everyone else, just wore casual clothes. Of course, laid-back as he was, even he didn't want to wear rumpled clothes outside of the house.

A loud honk blurted outside of the gate. Koiwai slammed the front gate closed. Jumbo was driving his yellow and black Suzuki motorcycle with a sidecar.

"Hey Koiwai! Phew, it's really, REALLY, hot today. News said this June is a record high," greeted Jumbo. He took off his helmet and rubbed the sweat from his forehead. His hair was shaved on the sides with the top all spiked with gel.

Koiwai already took his customary seat in the sidecar. He shoved his messenger bag into the leg room. "Yeah. Anyway, thanks for picking me up. I'll treat you right after work," replied Koiwai as he strapped on his helmet and seat belt.

Jumbo revved up his motorcycle and started off for Koiwai's working place. "No problem. Dad's at the shop right now so he can hold the fort. But isn't this the third strike for you? Maybe you should think up an excuse, like 'I was late because I stupidly forgot to change the PM on my alarm to AM.'"

"Aw, shut up! You've done it too Mr. Florist! Your Dad almost threw your N64 out of the house if it weren't for me."

"That's some big talk coming from the guy renting a room at _my_ house," countered Jumbo.

"Argh!" whined Koiwai. He laid the back of his helmeted head upon the backing of the sidecar. "Why do you guys even open shop at 7 am anyway?"

"Because, Mr. Boxershorts, some people have romantic ideas even in the morning."

"… what the heck?" asked Koiwai with a disgruntled expression.

Jumbo exhaled loudly, shaking his head at his friend. "Flowers are always given to someone we care about… and of course, to our girlfriends when we forget their birthday."

"Baka."

Jumbo turned the handlebars abruptly left to right, causing them to swerve a little.

Koiwai clutched the sides of the sidecar tightly. "OI! DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!"

Jumbo just laughed. In half an hour they reached the parking lot. He brought his motorcycle in front of the 3-story building. Koiwai hopped out. He glanced at his watch.

"Nice, 10 minutes to 9. I wouldn't have made it on bus," said Koiwai cheerfully. "Y'know Jumbo, how many months do you have left til you pay off this bike of yours?"

The larger man let go of the handlebars and folded his arms in thought. "Hmm, maybe 2 or 3 months. But Dad hates this thing. Can't deliver flowers since the petals fly off… he wants me to get a minivan so we can deliver flowers. Why?"

His friend stared longingly at the Suzuki. "I think maybe I should get one of these. Second-hand probably."

Jumbo grinned. He clapped a hand on Koiwai's shoulder and shook it. "Let's make a deal for this bike then. I'll come by to pick you up at 6."

Koiwai blinked in surprise. He smiled with a determined look in his eyes. "Fine. See ya!"

He pulled on the strap of his bag. The clear glass doors opened automatically. He crossed the carpeted threshold and got into the elevator. Koiwai pressed the close button.

"WAIT! HOLD THE DOOR PLEASE!"

Koiwai put a hand out and forced the door open enough to let the guy squeeze in. The elevator shook a little as the stranger plodded in.

"Er, so what floor are you going to?" asked Koiwai. _Wow, that would've been me going through all that if I hadn't called Jumbo to drop me off_, he thought, as he watched the younger man panting rapidly with an exhausted look on his face. _Poor kid_.

The younger man took a deep breath. "5th floor please."

Now Koiwai raised his eyebrows. He pressed the button. He regarded the younger man's ruffled hair which made Koiwai think about how he used to look when he first started at the agency. He gave the younger guy a few more moments to catch his breath before he made small talk.

"So, are you a new intern?"

Now the stranger arched his eyebrows in surprise. "Uh, yeah! I just got hired around last week. Today's my first day." He took the end of his necktie and wiped his forehead and looked wonderingly at Koiwai. "But how'd you know, um, sir?"

The elevator opened to the 5th floor. Koiwai stepped out.

"EH? YOU WORK HERE TOO?" cried the new intern. He was blushing, feeling very embarrassed about his haphazard appearance and using his tie to wipe his sweat off in front of his new co-worker.

"Well, yeah. I mean, how else would I have guessed you were an intern? Only our office gets the interns," answered Koiwai casually. He held the door open for him.

"Oh! There you are Yanda-kun. Ha, had to be your luck to meet our laziest employee, Koiwai-kun," said the supervisor, chuckling. He waved off Yanda's and Koiwai's bows.

"Sorry for looking all sweaty. I took a wrong turn on my bike. But Koiwai-san was kind enough to hold the elevator for me," explained Yanda, scratching his head. Koiwai punched in his timecard.

"It's no problem. Oh, and you don't have to bow to me neither," Koiwai remarked as he turned to see the intern bowing to him in appreciation.

The supervisor smiled, already finding Yanda to have a laid-back attitude that he preferred for their office. Busy-bodies would ruin their peaceful ambiance.

"Don't worry about it Yanda-kun, Koiwai here is renowned for his lateness. In fact, for him to be on time today must be a sign that you'll be taking his place!"

The rest of the translators in the office laughed. They were watching the whole exchange. Soon they got up and introduced themselves one by one.

The supervisor finally told the new intern to pick an empty desk and just familiarize himself with the office. Meaning Yanda could just hang out for now until he can come up with some duties for him to do.

_Hey, this place isn't too bad_, thought Yanda. He imagined that the translators would be all stony-faced and bark at him for being late. _Guess I'd better find me a desk!_

He looked around the office. There were 12 groups of cubicles with 2 people in each. Yanda walked between the aisles and peeked in. Several had little knickknacks scattered across the desks and shelves of anime and American comic action figures. One translator was even playing Tetris judging by the small window in the corner of the screen.

Finally he spotted an empty desk. He dropped his backpack onto the desk and plopped himself into the black revolving chair.

"Oh! So you're also gonna be my new cubicle partner huh," said Koiwai with a smile. He carefully laid his cup of coffee by the speakers.

Yanda swiveled around to face his sempai. "Haha, I guess so! All the other cubicles were filled already. But please regard me kindly."

"It's alright, no need to be so formal. I'm not that much older than you. Nobody's ever taken the other side of the cubicle before in the 2 years that I've been here."

"Wow! Y'know earlier I thought, well, that you were the janitor or something."

Koiwai was shocked with his jaw dropping. "Eh?"

Yanda laughed at Koiwai's expression. "Ahahaha! Yeah, I mean, your clothes were so wrinkly and you only shaved half of your beard."

He looked down at his clothes. It's true that the motorcycle ride wrinkled his clothes. He felt his jaw, it was smoother on one side. He probably did look like crap, but he took offense anyway.

Koiwai narrowed his eyes now, red in the face. He retorted, "Well look at you, kid. You look like you rolled out of bed wearing that suit!"

The intern flinched. He blushed furiously. "I _had_ to! If I didn't, I would've been late on my first day!"

"ARE YOU SERIOUS? HAVEN'T YOU HEARD OF AN ALARM CLOCK?" asked Koiwai in shock. He couldn't believe that Yanda really did sleep in with his suit on just so he could have a few more minutes of bed time.

This time Yanda stood up. "WELL DUH! BUT I LIKE TO SLEEP IN MORE SO I JUST SLEPT WITH MY SUIT ON!"

Koiwai stood up and pointed at Yanda triumphantly. "AH HA! EVEN MY MORNING ROUTINE IS BETTER!"

"BOTH OF YOU BRATS JUST SHUT UP!" roared the rest of the office.

"Oops, sorry everyone," apologized Koiwai and Yanda simultaneously. They were the youngest there.

_EXTRA_: In v5, Yanda called Koiwai, sempai, and Koiwai called him his understudy/junior. So I imagined they met each other at Koiwai's working place. Of course, those terms could also apply to some activity they share like judo class or something. Hope you enjoyed it so far and please review!


	2. The Bike, the Hummer, and the Motorcycle

**At Flower Jumbo's **by: Kounellii**  
**

_Kou's comments_: I know nothing of how translator agencies work but hopefully the process looks believable. Whew, it's 80 degrees out here! Hope you're all staying cool this summer and thanks for reading=)

_Disclaimer_: I do not own Jumbo, Yanda, nor Koiwai. But those three are hilarious! I own the plot too.

-+The Bike, the Hummer, and the Motorcycle+-

The shadow of Koiwai's coffee mug grew longer. Its shadow crept closer and closer to his bag. Koiwai checked it during the last few hours of work. It was his own personal sundial.

He picked up the new translation assignments that were just dropped off into his inbox.

_Lessee here... translate Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban __by J. K. Rowling__... what the-! 317* pages? … well, at least I can threaten Jumbo with spoilers, heh heh _remarked Koiwai to himself_. _

He shuffled the Harry Potter project to the back of his stack. Then he paused. He took back the assignment and laid it in front of him. His dark eyes passed over the conditions of the contract.

Koiwai remembered that Jumbo tried to get him into Harry Potter. He waved it off. But what stuck with him the most about the conversation was what his best friend said.

_That maybe I'm not interested in anything because I haven't experienced anything that I'm passionate about.._. thought Koiwai. He didn't have any particular hobbies nor was he ever a fan of anything. He held the sheet in his hands and leaned back in his chair.

_Hmm... maybe I should travel overseas. Haha, maybe even meet a girl there too! But I'd have to save up money. I'd have to pay at least 25% of the travel fare... Yeah, I'll do that! Although I can't get that Suzuki from Jumbo. Oh well._

**Usagi Pen***, his travel agency, offered opportunities for them to translate abroad. They would pay 75% of the way for select places.

"NANI? Why me?"

Koiwai jumped in his seat and almost tore the contract in his hands. Annoyed, he swiveled in his chair to face the source of the noise.

Yanda was clutching his head and rubbing his hair roughly. "AH! I don't want to translate HP!"

Koiwai froze. He practically resembled an ice sculpture. He looked at the attached sheet he skipped. He sucked in his breath and zoomed in on the horrifying details.

* * *

eep all details, manuscript text, and the fact that you are the  
anslator of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to yourse-  
until the official publication date in which your name  
rs in credit.

ssigned partner: Yasuda Yanda

adline: XX/XX/2001

* * *

Koiwai's hands covered his face. Of course his partner would be none other than the idiot next door. That's luck for you.

Now it was Yanda's turn to facepalm himself. He had just found out who he's translating with. He let his elbows slump off the edge of the desk and onto his knees, still clutching his face.

Koiwai smiled a little at the familiar gesture.

Fortunately, the coffee mug's shadow reached Koiwai's bag. Finally, it was time to meet up with Jumbo!

He shut down his macintosh and turned off the speakers. After a short stretch, he slipped his messenger bag over his shoulder. Perhaps he still felt happy about planning to travel abroad but Koiwai decided to reassure the new intern.

"Oi!" he called, seeing Yanda's bored face.

"Listen, this isn't so bad. We'll talk more next week about the HP project. I've had experience with translating books that are over 500 pages long. I'm not gonna torture you. I know how we'll split up the work, so don't worry kid," said Koiwai with a grin.

Yanda was listening intently. He looked at Koiwai and studied his expression for a while. Then he broke into a grin too.

"Alright, sempai. Sorry I yelled at you. I guess I got into it a little too much, ha!"

Koiwai laughed. "It's okay. I act like a kid sometimes too."

"Haha, it's nice to see you two get along again. So, did you like my partner arrangement?" asked their manager cheerfully.

"_NO!"_

At 6 o' clock everyone punched out their time card. A few of their coworkers stayed behind and hung out by the time clock to talk. Yanda and Koiwai took the elevator down once again.

The younger one bowed before he left to get his bike. Koiwai saw Jumbo pull up.

Jumbo flipped up his visor and put down the kickstand. "Yo! Can you get me a soda before we leave? Make it a Nestea."

Koiwai dropped his bag into the sidecar. "Yeah, sure! Anything else? We've got a new snack vending machine too."

"Nah, just that. I'll wait here."

Koiwai waved off the money Jumbo offered him. He felt like a free loader, even though he did pay a quarter of their mortgage as rent. But the rides were free so buying the drinks was the least he could do.

Besides, it prevented Jumbo from getting one on him.

He pulled the door open and walked off into the lobby's snack room where all the vending machines were. He popped the yen in and grabbed the can.

As he walked back into the lobby he heard Yanda's voice.

"Huh?" Koiwai walked over toward Yanda, who was asking the custodian something.

"Maybe you have an air pump somewhere?"

The custodian shook his head. "Sorry, Yasuda-kun, but that I don't have. I do have some duct tape for the hole though. If you wrap it around thick enough, you might still be able to ride it."

"Flat tire huh?"

Yanda whipped his head around. "Yeah, I guess I'll have to take the bus."

"This just isn't your day kid. The bus should be coming soon anyway. Ja!" said Koiwai. He began to walk away. Then he stopped as a thought occurred to him. "Well, my friend has a sidecar. I haven't asked him yet, but would you like a ride?"

"How surprisingly generous of you Koiwai-kun," remarked the custodian with a chuckle.

Koiwai pretended to frown at him. "I am generally generous."

The other two laughed. After much reassuring that it wasn't a problem, sempai and kohai headed back out.

Koiwai saw that Jumbo's helmet was off and resting on the handlebar. What was surprising was seeing that giant resting in the sidecar. His legs were so long that they were draped over the front, his foot could probably touch the sidewalk if he tried.

Yanda's eyes widened. "Who _is_ that? Some kind of giant starfish?"

"_That_ is Jumbo," answered Koiwai with a sheepish grin at his best friend. That was what he liked about Jumbo, he always kept it simple and never cared about what anyone thought.

Or maybe he just wasn't aware that what people do at home like lounging around isn't supposed to be done in public.

Yanda blinked in surprise. He watched as his coworker prodded the large man awake. The black and yellow Suzuki motorcycle was revved up to go.

Koiwai sat all the way by one side of the sidecar. He wondered why Yanda was just standing there. Then he remembered and called out over the hum of the engine, "My friend says he'll give you a ride. So c'mon!"

"... Koiwai-san is kinda cool," Yanda mused out loud. He hurriedly folded up his bike and shoved it down into the foot space.

As Jumbo drove onto the main road he greeted the new comer.

"Hey kid! Koiwai tells me your the newbie at his working place. It's nice to meet you, I'm Takashi Takeda by the way."

"Huh? I thought your name was Jumbo?" asked Yanda in confusion.

Jumbo gave Koiwai the evil eye, who ignored it.

"That's my secret name. Only my friends can call me that!" roared Jumbo, as he waved his gloved fist in the air.

"Okay, okay Jum- I mean, what was your name again?" asked Yanda nervously. Jumbo was twice his size after all. He didn't want to anger a giant.

Koiwai roared with laughter. Since Koiwai was seated on the side by the motorcycle, he was able to reach out and pound on Jumbo's back.

"AHAHAHA! _Oh, that's funny!_ See, I told you it's better to just use 'Jumbo'. Nobody ever remembers your real name," said Koiwai, in between gasps of air.

Jumbo glowered and pouted. Koiwai was referring to their inside joke that since Takeshi Takeda was such a common name, it was better to use a name that described him perfectly so that people would remember what to call him. Like Jumbo since he's a jumbo-sized human.

_Never mind, they're both weird!_ thought a disgruntled Yanda to himself.

Jumbo sighed. "Alright Yanda-kun, you can call me Jumbo. But when I'm with the ladies, call me Takeshi-sama."

"I don't think so," retorted Yanda before he caught himself. He grew scared at the glare Jumbo gave him. "I m-mean, yeah, sure, Takeshi-sama!"

"Haha, don't let him worry you, Yanda-kun. Jumbo acts like this all the time, but deep down he's nothing but a kitty cat."

Jumbo harrumphed.

As Yanda pointed out the directions back to his apartment, they all talked about where they were from. The usual introductory topics.

"Well kid, here's your stop."

Yanda took off his seatbelt. "Yeah, thanks Jumbo-san." The blond looked up at the apartment. "I just moved in here a couple months ago. And almost everyone on my floor's an old person. Oh well, have a nice weekend!"

Koiwai sat upright. "Hey wait! Jumbo, you think it'll be okay if he comes with us to check out that minivan you wanted?"

Jumbo left a voice message for Koiwai earlier about a used car dealer store that had a discount for the summer.

Jumbo smiled. "Hey, great idea! No problem, the car dealer store doesn't close until 8 anyway. So whaddya think Yanda-kun."

Yanda was barely following their exchange. "Wow, so it's okay if I come?"

Koiwai nodded.

"Thanks again! So why a minivan? You don't look that old to own one."

The Suzuki was revved up again. Jumbo turned his bike around as he answered, "My dad owns a flower shop and sometimes I deliver the flowers. The problem is that this bike of mine goes too fast so the petals fly off."

"I also live with him and his dad at their house. I don't have the problem you have Yanda-kun, but I wouldn't mind renting an apartment if I could afford it," added Koiwai as he watched a mother and her daughter cross the street.

Yanda looked forward, with the breeze rushing into his face. He felt relieved a little. The stress of moving into a new place and then landing a job took so many tries and a lot of time saving up. But now he was here in a cool motorcycle, with these guys who might see him as a new friend.

He felt like someone threw a bucket of cold water on him. Not as a practical joke, but as a way to help stay cool in the summer's heat.

"You know what, Jumbo-san?"

"What?"

"I think a hummer matches you."

Jumbo turned the handlebars abruptly left to right, causing them to swerve.

"HEY! DON'T SCARE US LIKE THAT!"

*I'm using the UK version since that's the original of Harry Potter  
*Usagi Pen=Rabbit Pen, based on the Luna Pen in Sailor Moon. And the fact that Yotsuba wears a rabbit t-shirt when she goes out

_EXTRA_: There's a lot of references to the manga hereXD The hint about Koiwai going overseas and meeting a girl, that's where my story will end. Right before he leaves. So probably I'll write 2 more chaps. Please review!


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